TRICARE for Displaced Military Families and Evacuees
According to TRICARE, if you were recently displaced from an overseas duty station or your home overseas, “you’re still covered by TRICARE.” Displacement counts as a qualifying life event, “which opens a 90-day window for you to update your TRICARE region or make enrollment changes,” according to TRICARE.mil.
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TRICARE for Displaced Military Families and Evacuees
Military families may face displacement or evacuation due to natural disasters, such as typhoons or earthquakes, or during periods of political instability that require a rapid departure from an overseas duty station.
For those in military families who have never traveled or lived outside the United States, these situations can be overwhelming. Understanding how the Department of Defense manages healthcare during a crisis is the best way to ensure your family remains protected when your surroundings become unstable or uninhabitable.
Understanding Your Status
The Department of Defense categorizes people based on the nature of their movement during a crisis. An evacuee is someone directed to leave a specific area by an official order.
A displaced person is someone who has had to leave their home but may not be part of a formal, government-ordered evacuation. Finally, there are those who remain in an area affected by a disaster but have lost access to their usual clinics or doctors.
Regardless of which category you fall into, the most important step is to maintain your TRICARE eligibility. Check to verify the Defense Enrollment Eligibility Reporting System (DEERS) has your current location and contact information, and update any required information as quickly as possible.
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How TRICARE Prime and Prime Overseas Change During Travel
When you are displaced or evacuated, you are officially “traveling.” For urgent care, Prime members do not need a referral. They should still contact their regional contractor as soon as possible to avoid out-of-pocket costs.
A service member must seek care at military hospitals or clinics whenever possible. If an active duty member is displaced to an area without a military facility, they must contact their PCM or the TRICARE Global Remote Oversight center before receiving non-emergency civilian care.
For military spouses and family members in an evacuation status, TRICARE often waives certain referral requirements for a limited time. However, you should check the Disaster Alerts page on the TRICARE website to see if a formal waiver has been issued for your specific location.
Procedures for TRICARE Select and Select Overseas
People using TRICARE Select or Select Overseas have the most freedom of choice when they are displaced. You do not have a PCM and may see any authorized provider.
If you are evacuated to the United States from an overseas location, you may find that your cost-shares change. If you are an overseas family member displaced to the United States, you will be treated as if you are using TRICARE Select stateside. Keep all receipts for medical care and prescriptions, understanding that in many cases, a physical paper trail is the most reliable way to get reimbursement.
Do not rely on digital records during a disaster. The normal windows for filing claims may be extended during disasters and evacuations to give beneficiaries enough time to relocate and manage the claim, which can help, but you’ll need your records to file those claims.
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Managing TRICARE Prescriptions in a Disaster Area
Displacement often happens quickly, and you may not have time to pack a full supply of medication. If you are in an area covered by a disaster declaration, TRICARE may allow emergency refills for a 30-day supply of your regular medications from any network pharmacy.
To use this benefit, take your prescription bottle to any network pharmacy. If you do not have the bottle, the pharmacist can contact the TRICARE pharmacy contractor, Express Scripts, to verify your history.
For spouses moving between countries, remember that a prescription written by an overseas doctor may not be fillable in another country, and you may need to visit a local clinic in your new area to get a new local prescription.
Responsibilities During an Evacuation or Displacement
The service member has a responsibility to their command even when displaced. The first call must be to their unit to report their location and medical status. For health care, they may be considered on temporary duty status wherever they land. Any medical care must be documented to ensure they remain fit for duty.
The spouse often manages the household’s medical needs during an evacuation. Contact the TRICARE regional contractor for your current location during a displacement, not your old one. If you move from Japan to California, you are moving from the Overseas region to the West region. You must notify the West region contractor that you are an evacuee. This prevents claims from being denied because you are “out of area.”
How Long Does Displacement and Evacuation Last?
In some cases, displacement lasts for weeks or months. If you are in temporary housing, you must update your address in DEERS for every move. If your displacement becomes permanent, you may need to transfer your enrollment to a new region entirely. This is called a Qualifying Life Event. It allows you to change your TRICARE plan outside of the normal open enrollment season.
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About the author
Editor-in-Chief Joe Wallace is a 13-year veteran of the United States Air Force and a former reporter/editor for Air Force Television News and the Pentagon Channel. His freelance work includes contract work for Motorola, VALoans.com, and Credit Karma. He is co-founder of Dim Art House in Springfield, Illinois, and spends his non-writing time as an abstract painter, independent publisher, and occasional filmmaker.
